Recently, the construction of the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch Line has made new progress: the shield machine "Jiaozhou Bay No. 12" for the left line of the section from Lanzhou West Road Station to Jiaozhou Railway Station has successfully launched.

Walking into the construction site of the section from Lanzhou West Road Station to Jiaozhou Railway Station of the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch Line, the reporter saw staff performing their respective duties, shuttling among the complex machinery, skillfully operating buttons and handles, and conducting real-time monitoring and maintenance of the equipment to ensure the smooth operation of the shield machine.

Construction personnel introduced that the section is 873 meters long in total and adopts a single-tube, single-track circular cross-section. Shield tunneling starts from the large-mileage end of Lanzhou West Road Station and advances beneath Hangzhou Road before entering Jiaozhou Railway Station. At present, the left-line tunnel of the Lan-Jiao section has successfully launched, and the right-line tunnel of the Lan-Jiao section has already been excavated more than 500 meters.

With the successful launch of the shield machine for the left line of the section from Lanzhou West Road Station to Jiaozhou Railway Station, both the left and right line tunnels of the section will enter the stage of full-speed shield tunneling construction, laying a solid foundation for the tunnel to be completed on schedule. Next, we will actively practice the work philosophy of "building the metro for the city and building the metro for the people," continue to overcome difficulties, solidly advance the construction process of the Line 8 Branch Line, and contribute to integrating Jiaozhou City into Qingdao's rail transit network and to economic and social development.

It is understood that the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch Line project is a key implementation project of Qingdao's three-year action for urban renewal and urban construction. It starts at Dajian Station of Line 8 and ends at Jiaozhou Railway Station, passing through Chengyang District and Jiaozhou City. It is entirely underground, with a total length of about 20.4 kilometers, of which the Jiaozhou section is about 15.8 kilometers long, with 1 vehicle depot and 11 stations.

Since the start of construction of the Jiaozhou section of the Qingdao Metro Line 8 Branch Line, the Office of the Municipal Metro Engineering Construction Command and the Municipal Transport Bureau have actively coordinated with relevant units and accelerated project construction in strict accordance with time nodes.

At present, all construction areas of the 11 stations have been fully enclosed. Among them, 8 stations, including Dagu River Museum Station and Shaohai North Station, have completed the capping of the main station structure, and construction is being accelerated at the remaining 3 stations. A total of 14 shield machine launches have been completed, with about 13 kilometers excavated cumulatively.